Tuesday, December 14, 2010

MMJ centers investigated; DOR looks for a field office

After receiving a tip that the Department of Revenue was looking to locate its medical marijuana enforcement field office in the Garden of the Gods Road area, we called spokeswoman Julie Postlethwait for confirmation.

"Not specifically, no. I know we’ve looked at several places," she says, adding that visits from DOR investigators to MMJ centers are going forward regardless. "To be honest with you, it takes a very, very long time to get something like a lease signed, and stuff done through the state. It would be great if we do get [it done by] the March 1 date, but I don’t think so. It just takes a long time, and I know that our director is down looking at places, and I don’t know if he’s made a final determination."

On a different topic, Postlethwait revealed that two weeks ago the DOR visited 97 centers — including several in Colorado Springs — that had, for a variety of reasons, failed to register paperwork certifying the center was growing 70 percent of its medication in-house.

"We went and did checks on every entity that had not filed the necessary paperwork, and we’re in the process of conducting those investigations," she says. "Everyone that was visited will be receiving a letter letting them know of our findings, and the expected outcome, and they will have the opportunity to respond."